What is music?

What is Music?

What is music? According to the dictionary, music is "the art of arranging tones in an orderly sequence so as to produce a unified and continuous composition". In reality though, does the word "music" really have any significant meaning? The meaning of music is different for everyone. . Music to a musician is there entire life. They live music everyday.  Music is their passion. For alot of us music is a hobby. We use it to tune out the world, or to calm our emotions.

The following definitions are taken from an article that defines music according to different perspectives.

Music is science

It is exact, specific; and it demands exact acoustics. A conductor's full score is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume changes, melody, and harmony all at once and with the most exact control of time.

Music is mathematical

It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be done, not worked out on paper.

Music is a foreign language

Most of the terms are in Italian, German, or French; and the notation is certainly not English &endash; but a highly developed kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is the most complete and universal language.

Music is history

Music usually reflects the environment and times of its creations, often even the country and/or racial feeling.

Music is physical education

It requires fantastic coordination of finger, hands, arms, lip, cheek, and facial muscles, in addition to extraordinary control of the diaphragmatic back, stomach, and chest muscles, which respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets.

Music is all of these things, but most of all

Music is art

It allows a human being to take all these dry, technically boring (but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion. That is one thing science cannot duplicate: humanism, feeling, emotion, call it what you will. Special thanks to the following web sites for reference information: The Music and Science Information Computer Archive Music is...... Special thanks to the author of the following article used for reference information: Weinberger, Norman M., "Brain, behavior, biology, and music: Some research findings and their implications for educational policy", Arts Education Policy Review (1998): 28-37

Music calms the soul.................

Have you ever heard of using music to heal the soul? What about to help a child with ADD or even a cancer patient? Music therapy is an amazing way to calm the soul. Music can actually ward of deppresion, help with pain management and even relax muscles. Music therapy is being used all over the world and just might be the new alternative to medication. Did you know music with a strong beat can actually stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a more meditative state. Reserach has also found that the change in brainwaves that music can bring can also allow the brain to shift speeds more easily on its own. Which means the benefits from listening to music can actually have lasting effects even after you quit listening!! These brainwave changes can also alter heart rate and breathing as well. Not to mention music can change your mood!! Who would of though that music could actually be a form of medicine!!!

Music Talk

sacred music  Religious or spiritual music, for church or devotional use.
phasing  A technique in which a musical pattern is repeated and manipulated so that it separates and overlaps itself, and then rejoins the original pattern; getting "out of phase" and back "in sync".
da capo  An indication to return to the beginning of a piece.
harmony The simultaneous combination of notes and the ensuing relationships of intervals and chords. Not all musics of the world rely on harmony for interest, but it is central to most Western music.
ballade  French poetic form and chanson type of the Middle Ages and Renaissance with courtly love texts. Also a Romantic genre, especially a lyric piano piece.
texture  The interweaving of melodic (horizontal) and harmonic (vertical) elements in the musical fabric. Texture is generally described as monophonic (single line), heterophonic (elaboration on a single line), homophonic (single line with accompaniment), or polyphonic (many voiced).
exoticism  Musical style in which rhythms, melodies or instruments evoke the color and atmosphere of far-off lands.

The History of Music

Many people believe that music began even before man. There is so much history and meaning in music over the centuries. Historiographers point out that there are six periods of music and each period has a particular style of music that has greatly contributed to how we view music today. From the middle ages to the 20th century, music has made its mark on so many.

Music is said to have began in the Middle Ages. There were two types of music styles. Monophonic and Polyphonic.

 Later in the Renaissance began the "Rebirth" of music. This "Rebirth" brought changes in how music was created and percieved.

Then following the Renaissance was the Boroque (meaning Bizzare) era. In this time period composers experimented with form styles and instruments. This era saw the development of opera and instrumental music.

The music of the classical period spans from 1750 to 1820. It is characterized by simpler melodies and forms such as the sonatas. The piano was undoubtedly the primary instrument used by composers during the Classical period.
Historiographers define the Romantic Music period to be between 1800 to 1900. It is characterized by using music to tell a story or express an idea, and the use of various instruments including wind instruments. Melodies are fuller and more dramatic.

Then we have the 20th century where music is so diverse and complex.

 

The Heartbeat of life............

What is the definition of music? Is it the way the birds sing? Is it a beautiful symphony? Or is it the new Pop song making it's way to the top of the charts? Music is amazing in the sense that it is so universal yet it is so relative and subjective. It's what makes us tick. We listen when were angry, when were sad, and when were on top of the world. Music is the heartbeat of life.